I’m kind of surprised we haven’t heard more about this, though I guess it could have been overwhelmed by the swine flu madness and all the other news this week.
Last week, President Obama basically said he has “no present plans” to reopen NAFTA, something he “vowed to do during his campaign,” as The New York Times reported.
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I’m kind of surprised we haven’t heard more about this, though I guess it could have been overwhelmed by the swine flu madness and all the other news this week.
Last week, President Obama basically said he has “no present plans” to reopen NAFTA, something he “vowed to do during his campaign,” as The New York Times reported.
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So the big news today is that the Obama Administration is conducting a forced “reorganization” of General Motors (R.I.P. Pontiac).
The Plain Dealer reports that GM will cut 21,000 jobs and close 42 percent of its dealerships. A lot of bond holders are angry with the deal and feel they’re being shortchanged. Meanwhile, retiree healthcare benefits are in jeopardy if the company enters Chapter 11, which is a real possibility.
Rather than blast Obama, The Detroit News today writes about the efforts the president is making to soften the blow for Michigan.
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So the big news today is that the Obama Administration is conducting a forced “reorganization” of General Motors (R.I.P. Pontiac).
The Plain Dealer reports that GM will cut 21,000 jobs and close 42 percent of its dealerships. A lot of bond holders are angry with the deal and feel they’re being shortchanged. Meanwhile, retiree healthcare benefits are in jeopardy if the company enters Chapter 11, which is a real possibility.
Rather than blast Obama, The Detroit News today writes about the efforts the president is making to soften the blow for Michigan.
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Rust Wire was able to sit down last week with the very busy Rhoda Matthews, executive director of Flint Club, a Flint, Michigan-based group working to improve the city and reaching out to the large group of Flint natives who no longer call the Vehicle City home.
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With a major auto bankruptcy looking more and more likely every day, I wanted to share this article about how retiree pensions could be impacted.
“Almost 930,000 people are covered under GM and Chrysler’s pension plans, and union officials estimate that more than 60,000 active and retired auto workers live in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan,” The (Toledo) Blade reported in a story earlier this week.
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Today’s New York Times has a story about a proposal to close off parts of the city of Flint, Mich. in order to focus on saving what can still be saved. “The population would be condensed into a few viable areas,” the article explains. “So would stores and services. A city built to manufacture cars would be returned in large measure to the forest primeval.”
I’m really surprised this article didn’t mention Youngstown’s planned shrinkage.
-KG
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Monday’s L.A. Times has an interesting article about how President Obama will have to tread lightly for fear of alienating auto workers and auto retirees in the auto swing states of Ohio and Indiana.
“…politics could prove unavoidable, given the president’s ties to the UAW and his election campaign’s reliance on auto-heavy states such as Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.”
The story goes on to add, “White House officials have moved in recent days to minimize future strains on union ties by offering at least supportive words for the UAW’s arguments. An administration …

But could the once-mighty behemoth General Motors really be heading for bankruptcy?
It seems more and more likely every day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/business/03motors.html?ref=global
GM’s new executive has already said it, and now its been stated in an offical regulatory filing to the Treasury, the Times reports.
What would this mean for plants, employees, and retirees?
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But could the once-mighty behemoth General Motors really be heading for bankruptcy?
It seems more and more likely every day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/business/03motors.html?ref=global
GM’s new executive has already said it, and now its been stated in an offical regulatory filing to the Treasury, the Times reports.
What would this mean for plants, employees, and retirees?
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